'Diabolo' Man- Bob Smith Jnr Calls On Juliet Ibrahim To Apologise After She Said Young Filmmakers Are The Ones Who Put Ghana On The Map

The arrogance of youth, eh? The battles fought by the older generation to lay the groundwork for the current one looks like it’s being trivialised – although if anything the industry has actually regressed.
The man most famous for his appearance in the ‘Diabolo’ movies, Bob Smith Jnr, has taken a swipe at actress Juliet Ibrahim for comments she passed during the premiere of Salma Mumin’s ‘No Man’s Land’
Although perhaps without any bad intentions, and to shed a light on the good work being done by young producers, Ibrahim said the work of people like Mumin and herself is what has finally put Ghana’s industry on the global map.
“We the young movie makers today are the ones putting Ghana movie industry on the map. When I visit Nigeria and I step out, people get to hear about the Ghana movie industry just because they hear that I am a celebrity from Ghana. With these movies, we can also sell our country positively to the world.” She said.
But Smith has taken umbrage at her comments, calling on her to apologise for belittling the sacrifices of generations before her who laid down the groundwork for the latest generation.
“I find such a statement presumptuous on the part of an artiste who has become a star not very long ago, does she want to mean that her predecessors did not do enough for her to take the baton?” he said during an appearance on Hitz Fm’s Daybreak.
“Let her apologize, it is not the best thing to say,”
According to him, several movies had put Ghana on the international map long before this generation arose, and called Ibrahim’s comments ‘myopic’.
“Do you remember Kwao Ansah’s ‘Heritage’ and other movies? They hit international standards even before we came and Juliet’s generation followed, ‘Kukurantumi’, ‘African Timber’ were all Ghanaian movies that went international. So I find such a statement as myopic” he added.